Sewing machine with upper needle point and lower wheel feed



L. BONO Nov. 9, 1965 SEWING MACHINE WITH UPPER NEEDLE POINT AND LOWER WHEEL FEED 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Sept. lO, 1962 III/11111111111 11(111111 INVENTOR Luz/:y 50720 ATTORNEYS L. BONO Nov. 9, 1965 SEWING MACHINE WITH UPPER NEEDLE POINT AND LOWER WHEEL FEED 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Sept. l0, 1962 INVENTOR mig/z5 50nd BYMQQMMM;

I L f ATTORNEYS Nov. 9, 1965 L. BoNo 3,216,386

SEWING MACHINE WITH UPPER NEEDLE POINT AND LOWER WHEEL FEED Filed Sept. lO, 1962 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 INVENTOR Lujo' 50H0 BY mmW/ TTORNEYS United States Patent Office 3,216,386 Patented Nov. 9, 1965 SEWING MACHINE Wl'EH UPPER NEEDLE POINT AND LGWER WHEEL FEED Luigi Bono, Pavia, Italy, assigner to Necchi Societa per Azioni, Pavia, Italy Filed Sept. 10, 1962, Ser. No. 222,560 Claims priority, application Italy, ian. 3, 1962, 67 ,951 8 Claims. (Cl. 112-206) The present invention relates to a sewing machine provided with an upper needle point and a lower wheel feed.

When sewing with sewing machines of this type, two layers of material to be sewn are fed below a roller foot by a wheel feed and the needle swings in the direction of feed in such a manner so as to move with the material, thereby excluding any possibility of relative movement between the layers of material.

In order to vary the speed of feed of the material, it is necessary to vary the transmission ratio between the main shaft of the sewing machine and the feed wheel and at the same time to vary proportionately the amplitude of the oscillation of the accompanying needle.

The present invention has as an object the provision of means for assuring amplitudes of oscillation of the needle of a sewing machine which are strictly proportional to the speed of feed of material by the feed wheel and wherein the necessary adjustment of the sewing machine can be carried out in a simple manner and the adjustments are of such a nature to exclude substantially any possibility of error.

The sewing machine which forms the subject matter of this invention comprises a main shaft, a feed wheel connected to the main shaft, with a transmission ratio which depends on a number of interchangeable gears which can be combined in x possible manners and a gear exchange having y ratios. The sewing machine also includes a needle swinging in a direction of feed of material by the feed wheel, with the needle being swung by a lever swinging in synchronism with the rotation of the main shaft. In accordance with this invention, there is provided a manual control of the amplitude of the oscillations of the lever for the needle which is connected to the means for controlling the change of the gear exchange in such a manner that the operation of the manual control makes it possible to vary the amplitude of the needle oscillations proportional to and simultaneous with the variations in speed of the feed wheel which are due to the y ratios of the gearbox. The invention also proposes that the second drive formed by the number of gears may be compensated for by a second drive of the manual control which is adapted to disconnect the manual contr-ol of the gearbox drive means and to recreate the connection after the manual control has been operated in such a manner so as to vary the amplitude of the oscillations of the lever for the needle proportionally to the variations in the speed of rotation of the feed wheel due to the various combinations x of the series of gears of the second drive.

Another object of this invention is to provide a shiftable pivot point for a swinging leVer which controls the oscillations of a needle of a sewing machine whereby the oscillation of the needle of the sewing machine may be varied in accordance with the feed rate of the sewing machine, and there being provided a manual control which, when properly set in an easy and simple manner, will position the pivot for the lever in accordance with the rate of feed of the sewing machine.

A further object of this invention is to provide in a sewing machine of the type having two sets of gears for providing for two different types of feed changes in the drive chain for the feed wheel of the sewing machine, and wherein the same sewing machine is provided with an oscillating needle which should oscillate at a rate in accordance with the movement of fabric by the feed means of the sewing machine, and there being provided a manual control for varying the rate Iof oscillations of the needle, with the manual control being in part connected to one of the feed changes to automatically effect the change of feed of the drive for the feed means in accordance with a shifting in position of the control for the oscillation of the needle, and there being provi-ded a further adjustment on the control for compensation for variation in drive ratio of the second variable drive unit.

With the above and other objects in view that will hereinafter appear, the nature of the invention will be more clearly understood by reference to the following detailed description, the appended claims and the several views illustrated in the accompanying drawing:

In the drawing:

FIGURE l is a fragmentary vertical sectional view through a sewing machine formed in accordance with the invention, the view being taken transversely of the direction of fabric feed through the sewing machine, an intermediate portion of the sewing machine being omitted for purposes of clarity.

FIGURE 2 is an enlarged fragmentary horizontal sectional view taken through the lower left hand corner of the sewing machine of FIGURE 1 and generally along the line II-II Iof FIGURE 1 and shows the general details of the set of interchangeable gears.

FIGURE 3 is a horizontal sectional view on an enlarged scale taken through a lower right hand portion of the sewing machine of FIGURE 1 and shows generally the `details of the gearbox of the sewing machine.

FIGURE 4 is an enlarged fragmentary vertical sectional view taken along the line IV-IV of FIGURES 3 and 5, and shows the specific details of the manual control of the sewing machine.

FIGURE 5 is an enlarged fragmentary elevational view showing the control mechanism of the manual control.

Referring now to the drawings in detail, it will be seen that the sewing machine of this invention includes an arm 1 which carries a vertically movable presser bar 2 to which there is fastened a roller foot 3 which opposes a feed wheel 4 projecting through a slot 5 in a needle plate 6 of the sewing machine.

The feed wheel 4 receives its movement from a horizontal shaft (FIGURE 2) arranged wit-hin the base 8 of the sewing machine. The illustrated sewing machine is of the column type and includes an upright column which supports the feed wheel 4. As a result, the translation of motion from the shaft 7 to the feed wheel 4 is through a pair of bevel gears 10 and 11, with the bevel gear 11 being mounted Ion the lower end of a vertical shaft 12 which is suitably mounted for rotation Within the column 9. At the upper end of the vertical shaft 12 there is a bevel gear 13 which meshes with a bevel gear 14 and the bevel gear 14 in turn drives the feed wheel 4. When the sewing machine is of the flat base type (not shown), the feed wheel 4 may be mounted directly on the shaft 7 and directly driven therefrom.

Referring now FIGURE 2 in particular, it will be seen that the shaft 7 is journaled inside of a hollow shaft 15 which, in turn, is rotatably journaled in the base of the sewing machine. The shaft 7 is driven from the hollow shaft 1S through a series of gears, generally referred to by the numeral 16, which Series of gears includes four gears 17, 18, 19 and 20. In the illustrated gear arrangement, the gears 17 and 20 are disposed in coaxial relation with the gear 17 being mounted on a bushing which is rigidly connected to the shaft 7 and the gear 20 being rigidly mounted on the end of the shaft adjacent the bushing 21. The gear 17 is connected to the bushing 21 by a key 22, while the gear 20 is secured to the shaft 15 by a key 23. v

The gears 18 and 19 are mounted on a bushing 24 which is mounted for rotation -on a shaft also carried by the base 8. The gears 18 and 19 are connected to the bushing 24 for rotation therewith by means of a key 26.

A knurled head screw 27 is screwed int-o the end of the shaft 7 and holds the bushing 21 and the gears 17 and 20 in place. The head screw 27 is provided with a shoulder 27 which engages the bushing 21. A second knurled head screw 28 is screwed onto the end of the shaft 25 and has a shoulder 28 which bears against the bushing 24. The head screw 28 retains the gears 18 and 19 and the bushing 24 on the shaft 25. By removing the head screws 27 and 28, the gears 17, 18, 19 and 20 may be interchanged, the gears 17 and 18 being interchangeable as a pair, and the gears 19 and 20 being interchangeable as a pair to give four different ratios of transmission between the shaft 15 and the shaft 7.

On the shaft 15 there is provided an integral spur gear 29 which is meshed with a gear 30 secured to the shaft 25 for rotation. In this manner, the shaft 15 is driven from the shaft 25. The shaft 25 exten-ds below the base 8 of the sewing machine and is driven by means of a gear transmission, generally referred to by the numeral 31, which gear transmission is mounted within a closed box 32 (FIGURE l) and has three gear ratios. The closed box 32 contains oil so that the gear transmission 31 is of the oil bath type.

Referring now to FIGURE 3, it will be seen that the transmission 31 includes gears 33, 34 and 35 which are fixedly secured to the shaft 25 for rotation therewith. The transmission 31 also includes gears 36, 37 and 38 which are integral with a bushing 39 to form a cluster for simultaneous longitudinal movement. The bushing 39 is mounted for sliding movement -on the primary shaft 40 between collars 41 and 42 on the shaft 40. The bushing 39 is connected to the shaft 40 for rotation therewith by means of a key 43.

The bushing 39 is provided with a groove 44 in which there is engaged an end of an arm 45 of a slide 46. The slide 46 is, in turn, slidable along a guide 47 parallel to the primary shaft 40, the guide 47 'being xedly mounted in the sewing machine. The slide 46 carries a rack 48 which is engaged with a gear 49 which, in turn, is mounted on a shaft 50 for rotation therewith The shaft 50 is manually rotatable and is mounted in a manner which will be described hereinafter. The shaft 50 and the gear 49 can be rotated by hand through an angle z which is equal to 360 divided by y-l in which y is the number `of ratios of the transmission 31 and x is the number of ratios obtainable with the series of gears 16. In the illustrated gear arrangement, y =3 and x=4. Accordingly, z=60.

When the shaft 50 is manually rotated, the bushing 39 moves between the two shoulders 41 and 42 of the shaft 40 and brings the pairs of gears 32-36, 34-37 and 35-38 of the gearbox 31 into selected engagement. The primary shaft 40 of the transmission 31 is provided with a gear 51 which is in engagement with a pinion 52 of a vertical shaft 53 mounted within the arm 1 of the sewing machine. As is shown in FIGURE 1, the upper end of the shaft 53 carries a bevel gear 54 which is engaged with l a bevel gear 55 rigidly connected to a shaft 56 which is the main shaft of the sewing machine.

The main shaft 56 is driven by conventional drive means of a sewing machine, which drive means are not described here. The main shaft 56 controls the reciprocating movements of a needle bar 57 which carries a needle 57. The needle 'bar 57 is mounted within a support 58 and is driven in synchronism with the rotations of a stitch forming member 59 which is positioned adjacent the feed wheel 4.

A vertical shaft 59 drives the stitch forming member 59 from the shaft 53. The lower end of the shaft 59 is provided with a bevel gear 64 which is meshed with a bevel gear 63 which, in turn, is carried by a horizont-al shaft 62 suitably mounted in the base of the sewing machine. The shaft 62 carries a bevel gear 61 which is meshed with a bevel gear 60 on the lower end of the shaft 53.

The support 58 of the needle bar 57 is pivoted to the arm 1 of the sewing machine by means of a horizontal pin 65 and swings about the pin 65 in the direction of the feed wheel 4 so that the needle 57', when embedded in the material to be sewn, accompanies the movement of the material.

An articulation 66 connects the support 58 to an arm 67 which7 in turn, is rigidly connected to a shaft 68 which is disposed parallel to the main shaft 56. The shaft 68 `also carries an arm 69 which is articulated by a pin 70 to a lever 71. The lever 71 swings about a pivot 72 with the oscillations of the lever 71 being controlled by an eccentric 73 on the main shaft 56.

The pivot 72 of the lever 71 consists of a pin having a shaft 74 which is slidable within an axial groove 75 of the lever 71 so that the amplitude of the oscillations of the support 58 depends on the position of the shaft 74 along the groove 75.

Since the series of gears 16 and the transmission 31 make it possible to obtain twelve different speeds of rotation of the feed wheel 4 which correspond to an equal number of lengths of sewing stitches, in order to obtain a correct accompanying action of the needle 57', it is necessary that the shaft 74 be vertically displaced into twelve different positions along the groove 75. This is made possible by fastening the pin 72 on a vertical rod or shaft 76 which is slidable in the upright 1 of the sewmg machine on which is rigidly connected a rack 77 which meshes with a pinion 78 and which pinion 78 can be brought into twelve different angular positions.

The pinion 78, as shown in FIGURE 4, is rigidly connected to a hollow shaft 79 in which is journaled the shaft 50 for controlling the transmission 31. At the right hand end of the shaft 79 is carried a drum 80 which 1s partially disposed within a bushing 81 of the upright 1 and in which bushing 81 the shaft 79 is mounted for rotation.

A screw 82 fastens an operating knob 83 to the drum for rotating the same. The knob 83 is provided with twelve radial grooves 84 which are adapted to receive a key 85 which, in turn, is engaged within a groove 86 of the bushing 81. The key 85 is mounted on one end of a pin 87 which is slidable in a hole 88 of the bushing 81 and which has rigidly connected thereto a push-button 89. The push-button 89 can be depressed by hand, and the key 85 is normally retained within one of the grooves 84 by means of a spring 90.

The knob 83, as is best shown in FIGURE 5, bears a graduation indicating opposite an index 91 of the bushing 81 what length of stitch, namely what speed of rotation to the feed wheel 4 must correspond to each of its manual positions. These graduations are divided on sectors identified by x Roman numerals indicating the possible combinations of the gear unit 16. In the illustrated form, wherein four gears 17, 18, 19 and 20, form the gear unit 16, there are four sectors identified by the Roman numerals, I, II, III and IV. In each sector, there are indicated the values of a length of stitch which can correspondingly be obtained with the various ratios of the transmission 31. A plate 92, which is hardly visible in FIGURE 1, is arranged in the vicinity of the series of gears 16 and opposite the Roman numerals to indicate in what order the gears 17, 18, 19 and 20 must be mounted.

The operating knob 83 and the drive shaft 50 of the transmission 31 are connected to each other by means of a disc 93 mounted within the knob 83, and the disc 93 carries a key 94 which is engaged within diametral groove 95 of the shaft 50. The disc 93 carries a pushbutton 96 which extends out through a hole 97 in the knob 83. The disc 93 is provided with radial grooves 98 which are spaced from each other by an angle equal to 360 divided by x, which in this instance is 4, thus making the angle 90. The grooves 98 are adapted to receive a key 99 which is fastened on the inner surface of the knob 83. Small rods 100 pass through holes 101 of the drum 80 and press against the disc 93 at the right ends thereof. The left ends of the rods 100 are pressed against by a ring 102 under the action of a spring 103. The ring 102 is disposed adjacent the key 85 of the pin 87 so that upon being moved axially against the action of spring 103, the ring 102 can disengage the key 85 from a respective one of the grooves 84 of the knob 83.

It will be apparent that by depressing the push-button 96, the grooves 98 of the disc 93 are disengaged from the key 99 and at the same time, the key 85 of the pin 87 is disengaged from the grooves 84 of the knob 83.

In order to understand the operation of the manual control, assume that the knob 83 has been turned in such a manner that the knob opposite the marker 91 shows a value k of the stitch length indicated on the sector of the knob marked by the Roman numeral I. Also, assume that the gears of the series of gears 16 have been mounted in the order which is marked on the plate 92 corresponding to the same Roman numeral I. Under lthese conditions, in order to obtain the other length of stitch values which are indicated on the sector of the knob 83, it is merely necessary to depress the push-button 89 to disengage the key 85 from the groove 84 and to turn the knob 83 so as to bring the selected value on the knob 83 opposite the mark 91. By this operation, the knob 83 is rotated in a manner so as to rotate both the shaft 50 and the shaft 79 with the resultant rotation of the gear 49 and the pinion 78. The rotation of the pinion 78 results in the displacement of the pivot 72 along the axis of the lever 71 to regulate the amplitude of the oscillations of the support 58 while the rotation of the gear 49 serves to displace the bushing 39 to bring the desired pair of gears of the transmission 31 into engagement.

As long as the push-button 89 is pressed, the knob 83 can rotate only so as to bring the values indicated on one of the sectors opposite the mark 91. Additional rotation of the knob 83 is prevented by the bushing 39 bearing against one of the shoulders 41 and 42.

If it is desired to effect sewing with a stitch length, the value of which is indicated on another sector of the knob 83, it is necessary to proceed in the following manner. The push-button 96 is depressed so as to free the shaft 50 from the rotation of the knob 83 and the knob 83 is rotated through the desired angle so that the selected sector is opposite the marker 91. In this way, the key 99 passes from one groove 98 to another groove 98 of the disc 93 while the shaft 79, which at all times is connected with the knob 83, displaces the fulcrum 72 in an amount proportional to the variation of the transmission ratio due to the desired combination of the group of gears 16.

After this initial adjustment has been made, the order of combination of the series of gears 16 is changed in accordance with the new sector indicated by the mark 91. Then, by depressing the push-button 89 to make it possible to rotate the knob 83 into any one of the three positions marked on the selected sector and corresponding 6 to the rotations of the knob 83, the ratio of the transmission 31 and the position of the fulcrum 72 may be varied to provide a speed of the feed wheel 4 and a corresponding proportion of amplitude of oscillations of the support 58 of the needle bar 57.

Although a preferred embodiment of the invention has been illustrated and described herein, it is to be understood that minor variations may be made in the invention within the spirit and scope thereof, as defined in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A sewing machine comprising a drive shaft, a feed wheel, and a needle support, drive means connecting said drive shaft with said feed wheel through first and second transmissions, drive means connected to said drive shaft and adapted to effect oscillation of a lever connected to said needle support, regulating means adapted to vary the oscillation of said lever, manual control means connected to said regulating means and to said first transmission, said manual control means being adapted to vary said oscillation in accordance with any one of the combined drive ratios of said first transmission and said second transmission.

2. A sewing machine comprising a drive shaft, a feed wheel, and a needle support, drive means connecting said drive shaft with said feed wheel through first and second transmissions, drive means connected to said drive shaft and adapted to effect oscillation of a lever connected to said needle support, regulating means adapted to vary the oscillation of said lever, manual control means including a first and a second shaft, rotation of said first shaft being adapted to actuate said regulating means, rotation of said second shaft being adapted to adjust the drive ratio of said first transmission, a control knob connected to said first shaft and releasably connected to said second shaft whereby said control knob can rotate said first shaft independently of said second shaft or together with said second shaft.

3. The sewing machine of claim 1, wherein said manual control means include a first and a second shaft, rotation of said first shaft being adapted to actuate said regulating means, rotation of said second shaft being adapted to adjust the drive ratio of said first transmisison, a control knob connected to said first shaft and releasably connected to said second shaft whereby said control knob can rotate said first shaft independently of said second shaft or together with said second shaft.

4. A sewing machine comprising a drive shaft, a feed wheel, and a needle support, drive means connecting said drive shaft with said feed wheel through first and second transmissions, drive means connected to said drive shaft to effect oscillation of a lever connected to said needle support, said lever having an adjustable pivot to vary oscillation of said lever, manual control means including a first shaft and a second shaft, means connecting said first shaft to said adjustable pivot whereby rotation of said first shaft positions said adjustable pivot, means connecting said second shaft to means for shifting said first transmission whereby rotation of said second shaft shifts said first transmission, a control knob connected to said first shaft and releasably connected to said second shaft whereby said control knob can rotate said first shaft independently of said second shaft or together therewith.

5. The sewing machine of claim 4, wherein said manual control means includes a rack connected to said adjustable pivot and a manually rotatable pinion meshed with said rack and connected to said first shaft.

6. The sewing machine of claim 4, wherein said manual control means is operable to position said adjustable pivot in accordance with any of the combined drive ratios of said first and second transmissions.

7. The sewing machine of claim 2, including means for locking said control knob in an adjusted position.

8. The sewing machine of claim 2, including a releasable connecting means releasably connecting said con- 7 8 trol knob to said second shaft, said connecting means com- 2,885,983 5/59 Benink et a1. 112-7211 prising a push-button extending through said control knob. 3,064,603 11/ 62 Iida et a1 112-158 References Cited by *he Examiner JORDAN FRANKLIN, Primary Examiner.

UNITED STATES PATENTS 5 FRANK J COHEN Examiner 860,733 7/07 Cummings 112-213 

1. A SEWING MACHINE COMPRISING A DRIVE SHAFT, A FEED WHEEL, AND A NEEDLE SUPPORT, DRIVE MEANS CONNECTING SAID DRIVE SHAFT WITH SAID FEED WHEEL THROUGH FIRST AND SECOND TRANSMISSIONS, DRIVE MEANS CONNECTED TO SAID DRIVE SHAFT AND ADAPTED TO EFFECT OSCILLATION OF A LEVER CONNECTED TO SAID NEEDLE SUPPORT, REGULATING MEANS ADAPTED TO VARY THE OSCILLATION OF SAID LEVER, MANUAL CONTROL MEANS CONNECTED TO SAID REGULATING MEANS AND TO SAID FIRST TRANSMISSION, SAID MANUAL CONTROL MEANS BEING ADAPTED TO VARY SAID OSCILLATION IN ACCORDANCE WITH ANY ONE OF THE COMBINED DRIVE RATIOS OF SAID FIRST TRANSMISSION AND SAID SECOND TRANSMISSION. 